In February of 2016, my youngest son, Jacob (then 8 years old), told me that he was writing a book. This wasn’t a surprise since he loves making stories – whether written or acted out with his toys. His announcement sparked something in me and spurred me on to break a long break I had taken from writing fiction. I decided to start small and began work on a short story. Except, the story decided not to remain so short. Before I knew it, I had 5,000 words written. Then 10,000. When all was said and done, the story was over 64,000 words long.

It doesn’t end there, though. As I was writing the story, I realized that this tale wasn’t going to simply end at the end of the book. At this point, it looks like there will three books in the story. I also have built a world where I can tell side stories that don’t involve the main characters at all. (Alternatively, I could go back and explore a particular character’s backstory further if I wanted to.)

I hope everyone enjoys this book as much as I enjoyed writing it and as much as my son enjoyed me reading it to him.